Glass-furnace.



H. DOUGHAMP.

GLASS FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.18. 190a.

Patented; Dec. 2?, 1910.

.. UTED srrrrns rArN HENRY DOUCHAMB, or MOUNT JEWETT, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 'ro SMETHPORT GLASS COMPANY, OF SMETHPORT, PENNSYLVANIA, A oonrona'rro OF WEST VIRGINIA.

T all whom it may. concern.-

Be it known that I, HE R DOUCHAMP, a ;-;citizen of -the'United fitates, residing 'at MountJewett, in the county of McKean and ,5 State 9f Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements inGlass-Furnaces,

ofiwhich the following is a specification.

The invention relates to an improvement in glass furnaces, and is particularly di- 1o"rected to a construction for facilitating the proper withdrawal-of the material from the .furnace'. P 7 In manufacturing window glass by n1a-- chinery'it has been practically -impossible from the commercial standpoint to draw-the lass from the-furnace without spoiling a arge amount of material, owing to the. nec'iessity for cooling and reheating incident to the use of such apparatus as has been known 2." iii the art. v

The present invention is particularly de-; signed to obviate the above noted disa'd-i 'vantage and to so arrange for the drawing of the furnace as to insure a natural cooling of the glass in drawing and a natural reheating of the material after severance of the cylinder, thereby insuring a uniform result and perfecting to a commercial success a the manufacture of window glass by ma- 30. chinery. I

The invention will be described in the following specification, reference being had particularly to the accompanying drawings. in which v Figure 1 is a view in section, partly in elevation, illustratin the improvement. Fig.

.2 is a plan of the furnace.

Referring particularly to the accompanying-drawings, I have illustrated a conven-.

40 r'tional form of furnace 1 including side and end walls 2 and 3, which showing isintended to indicate any desired form or structure of furnace in which the glass, as 4, may be maintained in a molten state.

The top of'the furnace isformed to provide two alined draw openings 5 and 6, said furnace top being otherwise closed against the escape of heat- 'As a preferred forni of closurefor the topof the. furnace IproVide what may be termed cap plates 7 and .8 arranged respectively in contact with. the side walls 2 :and .end walls 3, as shown in Fig. 2.

l The cap plates are respectively of materially less width than half the width of the fur 66 nace, thereby providing a space centrally of Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed November 18,1908. Serial No. 463,264.

GLASS-FURNACE.

the furnace between the proximate edges of the cap plates. The space thus formed is sealed against the escape of heat by tiles 9, which may be supported in'any desired way as by bolts 10'pendent' from an overlying .beam ll or the like. The respective tiles are so arranged and formed as to provide the draw'openings 5 and 6, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and are of materially greater height thanthe thickness of the cap plates 7 and 8. As the upper surfaces of the cap plates are walls and as the tiles are of a height to terminate at their lower edges just above the highest level ofthe molten glass within the furnace, it will be understood that between each side wall 2 and the adjacent tile 9 there is provided achamber '12, bound at the top by the cap late, at the ends the furnace walls 3,- and at the sides by the side wall2 and the outermost tile.9. These chambers; which will be hereinafter termed the heating chambers, are open at-the bottom for direct communication withthe' body of the furnace carryingthe molten glass, and consequently the temperature in the chambers will be practically that of the molten material.

a As an essential part of the present invention I have constructed what I term a glass carrier, including a body 13 and a series of rings, as 14, 15, 16, and 17, which rings are of duplicate construction and having aninterior diameter which may be equal to or present any desired variation from the diameter of the draw openin 5 5 and 6. The body 13 is formed with iametrically opposed rounded depressions 18, corresponding to the curvature of the rings and designed to receive the rings, .complementairy dovetailed connections being formed on the body and rings whereby the latter may be removably Patented Dec. 27, rain.

'alined with theuppersurface ofthe furnace i secured to the former. The body and rings are of approximately equal thickness, and are constructed of any. desired refractory material, the arrangement of parts providing for the disposition of the rings in diametrically opposed pairs and so spaced that when the body is in proper position each of the rings of a particular, pair will exactly register with the draw openings 5 and 6 of the furnace. With the operative pair of rings registering with the draw openings the remaining pair thereof will be disposed in .alinementat' right angles to a line joining the draw open ngs, and, therefore, within 5 member 21 fixed on the lower end of'a rod- 22 which extends through a well 23in the tile construction and above the furnace is provided with a beveL ear 24 adapted to be engaged and operated y a bevel pinion 25 carried on apower shaft 26. v

An essential and i mportant characteristic of the present invention resides in the man ner of supporting the glass carrier. As will appearas the description proceeds it is es- Y sential that the molten glass should be used as a medium for reheating theglass cut off after drawing the cylinder, and, therefore, the rings must at .all times be subjected to thedirect aetionof the molten glass. For this purpose the glass carrier including the body and rings is supported directly in the molten materlal, or in other words the glass carrier floats in the molten glass. The spe-' cific gravities of the molten glass and ma terial composin the latter will upper surface ractically level with the level of the glass. nother advantage of this arrangement is that the rings are thereby at all times filled with the molten material and furthermore the carrier as a whole will always maintain the same relative position in the body-of the molten materi'al'indcpendent of the height or level of the same. It is, of course. understood that the con- ,nection between the stud 20 and the socket 21 is such as to permit the carrier proper to remain at all times in the body of the lass independent of the'height of; level 0 the same, and that the stud will be of such height as to permit cooperation of the socket in any positionof the carrier.

In operation.the power shaft is actuated to arrange two of the rings, as 14 and 15, in alinement withthe draw openings 5 and 6. The drawing apparatus,.which may be of any desired type, is then operated to draw through the' rings and openings the desired quantity of material, which as understood in this art will be in the form of a cylinder of the desired length. After severing the drawn portion from the ring, it will be obvious that a quantity of material will remain within and somewhat beyond the ring which has been subjected to a cooling action, and,

therefore, the ring is not clear. Immediately succeeding the drawing operation the power shaft is again actuated to aline the remaining pairs of rings 16 and 17 with the carrier are such that course, operate the rings 14- and 15 from which the revious drawing has been made, to dispose tiem beneath the cap plates 7 and 1 8, or in the heating chambers 12. In'this oat in the former with its the draw openings. This movement will, of

maining in these rings after drawing is subjected to a natural 1'eheating,-\\-'ith the effect to efliciently clear said rings for the next drawing operation.

-It will be apparent from the above described construction that the carrier may be continiiously rotated in one direction or rotatively reciprocated through a quarter revolution or through a half'revolution, the object desired being to arrange the proper rings in alinement with the draw openings and dispose the remainder in the heat chambers. 1

The salient feature of the present invention is the use of a ring through which the molten material is tobe drawn, which ring is at all times floating in the molten ma terial. Obviously the device may include any desired number of-rings, four being shown as a matter of convenience.

Having thus described the invention What is claimed as new, is

1. A reservoir adapted to contain molten glass and formed with a draw opening, a plurality of elements floating in the material and througheach of which the ma. terial may be drawn,-and means for operating the elements to cause their successive registry with the draw openings.

2.- A reservoir adapted tocontain molten glass, a carrier supported solely by the molten material, said carrier including a p1u rality of elements through which the ma-' terial may be drawn, and means for operating the carrier.

3. A reservoir adapted to contain molten glass and formed with a draw opening, a carrier arranged in the reservoir and supported solely by the molten material, said carrier includin a plurality. of elements through which 1; e material may be drawn,

and means for operating-the carrier to cause the successive registry of the elements with the draw opening.

4. A reservoir adapted to contain molten glass and formed with a draw opening, said reservoir including a chamber open'to the heat from the molten material, a carrier arranged in the reservoir and supportedsolely by the molten material, said carrier including a plurality of elements through which the material may be drawn, and means for operating the carrier to cause the successive registry of the elements with thedraw opening and with the chamber. 1

5. A reservoir adapted to contain molten glass and formed with a plurality of draw openings, said reservoir including a plurality of heat chambers beyond the opening, a carrier arranged in the reservoik and supported solely by the molten mat rial, said, carrier including a plurality of elte'me'nts arranged in diametrically opposed pairs, and means for operating the-carrier /to register 65 position the more or less set material rel theelements of a particular pajlr with the registry with the draw opening.

- draw openings, the respective elements being -;so disposed as to arrange one pair thereof gwithin the heat chambers when another pair is in registry with the draw openmgs.

5 6. A reservoir adapted to contain molten metal and formed with a draw opening, a carrier su ported by'the molten material and inclu ing a plurality of elements adapt-- ed for cooperation with the draw opening,

:19 and means for piperating the carrier to dispose any of sai elements in registry with the draw opening.-

A reservoir adapted to contain molten glass and formed with a draw opening, a

5, carrier arranged in the reservoir and supported solely by the molten material, a ring connected to the carrier and at all times in the material, and means for operating the --carrier to position said ring into'or out ,of

8. A.fnrnace formed with a draw opening adapted to contain molten metal, a carrier arranged in'the furnace and'supported solely by the momenta-m1 therein, a ringremovably connected to thecarrier, and means for.

operating the carrier to position the ring intoor outof registry with the opening.

9. A furnace adapted to contain molten metal and formed with a plurality of draw openings, a carrier floating in the furnace,

means for operating the carrier, and a Series of draw elements connected to the carrier and operable therewith, said elements exceedlngin number the number of draw openmgs.

10. A furnace adapted to contain molten metal and formed with a plurality of draw 1 and operable therewith being so arranged as to insure the simultaneous registry of a plurality thereof with the draw openings and the disposition of the "remaining elements within the furnace wholly beyond the draw openings.

12. A glass furnace having a stirrer supported-solely by thetmolten glass, and means for actuating said stirrer, the connection between thestirrer andwits actuating means beingsuch asto permit the stirrer to rise and fall with the changing level of'the molten glass. r t 13. A glass furnace having a rotatable stirrer supported solely by the molten glass,

and means for rotating said stirrer, the connection between thestn'rer and its rotating means being such as to permit the stirrer to rise and fall with the changing level of the molten glass.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY DOUCHAMP. WVitnesses:

- TiTos. W. CAMP, J. S. WALKER. 

